Parliament is debating seriously about the impact of tuition for school
children and how tuition could create an uneven playing field with some
getting a leg up in their academic pursuits. This is definitely unfair.
Why should some students with parents having so much money be allowed to
have the best tuition to score straight As and some got to struggle
without tuition to just get by? Cannot right? Wrong?
And there is also a problem of good teachers quitting teaching to be
tuition teachers for the monetary rewards. Like that also no good as the
schools will be deprived of having good teachers. And parents are also
spending too much money on tuition, another NG.
So, what is the problem? Dunno. So? Commission a study lah, or at least
conduct a survey to know what is wrong and what are the implications
then something can be done.
Ok, good idea. One finding I can guarantee will come out. Unlevel
playing field. So? Level the playing field, so easy. One solution,
tuition be banned henceforth, so every student will start from the same
starting line. Or the govt will provide tuition, subsidized definitely,
so that every child will have tuition. And make sure it is also
compulsory. Like that the field will be leveled, surely.
As for good teachers leaving the teaching service, have a term included
in the contract like those in the private sector. Teachers leaving the
teaching service will be banned from providing tuition for 5 years. Like
that good teachers sure would not leave. Not so good teacher can leave,
never mind.
See, problem solved. No need to waste time and money to conduct study or
survey. If the ministry is going to spend public money on such study
and survey, they must be serious in what they want to do, to take
remedial actions. It cannot be a look see, look see, and then nothing
done. This is like sending them overseas to study what other countries
are doing then come back and just make a report also can. No need any
follow up actions or plans. But this also costs money and if it ends up
as NATO, then what? Simply spend public money is very easy. But don’t
forget money must be well spent. There must be clear objectives and
follow up actions to improve something.
Maybe institutionalized or
nationalized tuition and tuition centres. Then it will be easier to
level the playing field. Rich parents pay more, poor parents pay less or
subsidized. Now I used the term subsidize like no body’s business. I am
also getting used to the term compulsory with compulsory payments. No
opt out.
What do you think?
You can only level the paying field by applying economic socialism. The target is not to fix tution center rate but to raise the salary of workers.
ReplyDeleteWhen the workers salary is raised, a lot of good thing will come naturally and problem will solve by itself.
This is definitely unfair.
ReplyDeleteRB
So?
There are probably 101 unfair things in Sinkieland.
But these did not enable the opposition to become strong and ready to be a better alternative.
Hence PAP is still considered by at least 60% voters to be the best available to be govt every election.
So to cut through the clutter of arguments and opinions, this is the core that really matters.
So?
ReplyDelete"This ‘So?’ question forces you to get to the core of the issue and draw out the implications of each fact. His instinct is to cut through the clutter, drill to the core of the issue, and identify the vital points."
ReplyDeleteEducation Minister Heng Swee Keat on LKY's favourite question
I dont want so many paragraphs! Only one sentence answer enuf liao! So?
ReplyDeleteWhen it is the best available and not the best, this is where problems arise.
ReplyDeleteEspecially when don't choose is not an option.
School teachers become tuition teachers.
ReplyDeleteSo?
If Singapore teachers are really doing their job;
ReplyDeletewhich is to teach;
why do students need tuition?
Maybe the school teachers are incompetent.
Maybe the Education Millionaire Minister know nuts about education.
Why parents have to pay two times for education.
One payment for school fees.
One payment for tuition fees.
Hi Miniclone and miniclones, welcome to the blog. So?
ReplyDeleteA simple word, So, but so demanding and so deep in meaning. So?
@Anon8.52am "If Singapore teachers are really doing their job;
ReplyDeletewhich is to teach;
why do students need tuition?"
So?
If Singapore teachers are really doing their job;
ReplyDeletewhich is to teach;
why do students need tuition?
A lot of teachers sucks but classroom environment not conducive for content delivery. The Finnish system succeeded because class size is small.
In SG this may not be possible. Our teachers salary too high. A lot of high schools have 36 students class.
@anon8.52am //Maybe the school teachers are incompetent.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the Education Millionaire Minister know nuts about education.//
So?
Tuition is an economic activity. When there are economic activities, it will contribute to GDP.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, enterprising tuition teachers will make a lot of money. When they have a lot of money, they will buy high price condos and cars. The developers and car sellers will make money and contribute to GDP through taxes. The govt also make money selling land to the developers.
All these will raise the GDP and Govt reserves.
Hence we need the tuition industry just as we need rich foreigners.
@anon8.52am >>>>>Why parents have to pay two times for education.
ReplyDeleteOne payment for school fees.
One payment for tuition fees.<<<<<
So?
When your parents is poor and uneducated, you have a natural disadvantage. The sin of parents visited their sons till 10 generations according to Bible.
ReplyDeleteIf your parents are professors, they have a better content knowledge than even your teacher. If your parents can hire university professor for tution, you will be way ahead.
Also rich parents can pay for all sorts of enrichment and intervention class, like Adam Khoo, French, German...etc. And make education field trip to exotic countries.
You can even pay your way into harvard, stanford by giving millions to endowment. So how to compete against rich?
All these stag up against the poor... Face it that is the fact. Chan Chun Sing is a true genius as a poor man son who emerge.
@anon9.02am
ReplyDelete(((((
Tuition is an economic activity. When there are economic activities, it will contribute to GDP.
For instance, enterprising tuition teachers will make a lot of money. When they have a lot of money, they will buy high price condos and cars. The developers and car sellers will make money and contribute to GDP through taxes. The govt also make money selling land to the developers.
All these will raise the GDP and Govt reserves.
Hence we need the tuition industry just as we need rich foreigners. )))))
I dont need so many paragraphs!
Just one sentence answer!
So?
Chan Chun Sing is a true genius as a poor man son who emerge.
ReplyDeleteVeritas September 18, 2013 9:06 am
Ya lor, and geniuses join PAP instead of opposition.
So this is the core reason why opposition not enough geniuses and so not ready to be govt.
@ aon 9.02 am
ReplyDeleteCutting through the clutters, drilling to the core of the issues and identifying the vital points, the one sentence answer is:
Tuition has economic, social and political multiplier effect.
So?
Make tuition compulsory, charge higher and give subsidies. This formula never fails and the people will be very appreciative of the goodness in the compulsion and the savings they made with govt giving out money to them, eternally grateful.
ReplyDelete@RejectedExApplicant#1 9.20am
ReplyDelete//Tuition has economic, social and political multiplier effect.
So?//
So economic multiplier effect means add to GDP growth many times over.
Social effect means parents even more bz to earn more to pay for child's tuition. Students more bz after school and weekends to attend tuition and do additional tuition homework on top of school homework.
Political effect means everybody bz from wake up time until sleeping time. Means if we declare ourselves #2 bz beans, no beans including all the ants in this world dare claim the #1 spot.
So?
Children also busy busy busy attending tuition classes.
ReplyDelete@9.34am
ReplyDeleteSo means no time apply for drivers' job lah! Oops, should be co-drivers' job. Drivers vacancies only Elitist Elites with MT ( Chinese Language etc ) almost fail one need apply! Then got chance brush up mah!
With websites like Khan Academy, the after hours tutors might frop off in the future.
ReplyDeleteHere's the irony: why is there such a VAST demand for PRIVATE tutors to teach students supposedly learning in the PUBLIC school system?
Also, how many hours a day do these adult "leaders" expect children to study? Please lah, got to give the kids a break from their 8 or so hours of daily "indoctrination" so they can go hang out with friends and do fun stuff.
This neurotic fixation on the pursuit of academic excellence kills young minds, damns creativity and prevents kids from discovering their unique individuality.
but if you give money to the poor, they won't use for education, they gamble, will sit in the kopitiam longer and drink more beer. the money will just come back to the rich.
ReplyDeleteLKY dies ... so?
ReplyDeletePAP loses General Elections ... so?
LHL is the worst PM in Singapore's history ... so?
Is PAP operationally ready to govern ... so?
Are Opposition parties operationally ready to form a coalition government ... ?
WP is not yet ready to contest all the seats in parliament ... so?
Maybe that's why we have 99 seats in parliament ... so?
but if you give money to the poor, they won't use for education, they gamble, will sit in the kopitiam longer and drink more beer. the money will just come back to the rich.
ReplyDeleteSocialism does not mean giving monies to the poor. Socialism is about giving people their fair share and is closer to free market economy than what is practice today. Singapore does not even have a free market, it has a market rig against the poor and middle class.
Imagine if no or few foreign workers are imported just like switzerland. People tell us we will die, but the opposite is true, we will prosper more like switzerland.
When the rich want to clean a toilet today, he just got to get workers in banglala. If no foreigners, he will have to hike salary until demand = supply.
This is what PAP are preaching, free market. The real wage under free market is what our workers deserve.
Even if the workers squander all his monies on everything other than education, that is his own business. But depriving of workers their fair share of labour will prevent their children from competing on equal terms.
That means, PAP screws the poor.
it seems to me there is a lot of unhappy people out there......
ReplyDeleteour early educational systems and different levels of qualifications are OK.....people like RB and the gang were the product......
the trouble is that every new person who take over the education portfolio will come up with something new and make major changes to the education without considering the past.....this will cause unnecessary confusions and stresses on parents and the students.....
please believe me.....there is no such thing as PERFECT system.......fall back to BASIC !!!!!!
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteToday PSC say want more "diversity" in selecting scholar. Not too long ago, MOE tell schools and universtiy to be "holistic" in admission.
ReplyDeleteWTF.
Don be fooled, holistic admission is equal tfo corruption of education. We know USA college admission is the most "holistic". There are tons of books published to fcuk USA college admission. Critics point out the holistic admission is first created by WASP to discriminate Jews in college admission.
Today, college are taken over by Jews. Jews use it to favor their own kind. In short holistic admission is racism. Critics estimate that without holistic admission and by just pure SAT results, Harvard and stanford will be flooded by Chinese and Indians.
The schools admission system in French and Germany is very much plain stupid exam base as they are aware of the pitfalls of holistic.
The Chinese imperial exam institution are said to be the most just and longevity institution in the world, because it is base on plain stupid academic results.
Today PAP is mad. PAP is against anything good. Do not trust PAP to implement things really holistically. These are here to give the rich and privilege backdoor.
ReplyDeleteJust look at the big picture. and i see why PAP is doing what it is doing now.
PAP knows its survival depends on the new citizens. it is trying to LEVEL the playing field for THEM again. Many of its policies are to create obstacles for natives singaporeans. When it comes to helping the new citizens, they will say this and that to remove the road-blocks for them.
ReplyDeleteIN the past in the 1950s to 1970's teachers in Singapore were poorly paid and yet they performed well and delivered. Out of their own initiatives they voluntarily gave tuition to students who were weak in their subjects without charging even a cent. They were really dedicated and happy with their vocation.
But now teachers cannot be compared to those of bygone days. They are now too highly overpaid and they think they are entitled and many lack dedication and responsibility and perform somewhat perfunctorily. Too often we hear certain teachers from elite schools reprimanding and telling students weak academically to inform their parents that they must get private tutors to teach them.
Now teachers are too highly overpaid but do they measure up comparatively to their dedication and responsibility.
Eagles Eyes
ReplyDeleteEagles Eyes 12.14pm ........
You are very correct !
I think the real problem here is not tuition.....how can we stop people from tuition....some are really weak ......
ReplyDeleteThe real sickness is that we are introducing more and more difficult exam questions year after year....some beyond their standards.....so for KS parents, tuitions may be their answer.....
Go back to basic......
How can, the Sinkie children are so talented, so gifted, to multi skilled, can do everything, good in everything, all rounder. They will ace everything from books to football, from dancing to painting, they are all like Leonardo da Vinci, a super race. But all ended up good for nothing and needed to be helped, to be supervised and to be managed by third world no talents and faked talents.
ReplyDeleteThe G solution will to tax the tuition teachers. This will reduce "profiteering", and will make tuition "less lucrative". Hence, less teachers will leave the profession, and less people can afford tuition. QED.
ReplyDeleteIf Singapore children need private tuition to pass their exams.
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean the PAP gahmen has failed us in providing a good education system for our children?
Is this another proof of an incompetent PAP gahmen?
Tuition Vouchers, just like the GST Vouchers will be included in the next budget. Problem solved.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteanon 1.51pm.....
in a class there will be slow learners who may need additional coaching either conducted by the schools or by tuition centres.....
if schools coaching classes, parents need not send children for tuitions...
but the real problem is described at 12.45pm above......
Just do away with all those silly exams, streaming and whatever shit. Even PHDs need to drive taxis to survive. What is the point of scoring well academically? The gov purposely made exams so boring and teaching so lousy to help the tuition centers to make big monies, landlords make big monies, Fts makes big monies all at the expense of poor kids and parents. The kids in this small island has no childhood, no life, no freedom at all. They are just living zombies. So poor things.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, so long as we have money oriented gov around, things will not get better. Voters must learn to vote with eyes wide open. Stop the insanity that the current party will make things better. The last ten years are very good examples how things have deteriorated.
ReplyDelete"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
Just do away with all those silly exams, streaming and whatever shit. Even PHDs need to drive taxis to survive. What is the point of scoring well academically? The gov purposely made exams so boring and teaching so lousy to help the tuition centers to make big monies, landlords make big monies, Fts makes big monies all at the expense of poor kids and parents. The kids in this small island has no childhood, no life, no freedom at all. They are just living zombies. So poor things.
ReplyDeleteWe will acquire moron IQ and despise by everyone on earth if the above suggestions are implemented. To raise IQ of tribe, we need to put our sons into cognitive jobs.
There is some academic channeling in every countries but our streaming is designed to be very atrocious. We need to get rid of that. The well being of our tribe is undermine by streaming whose purpose is to make students stab one another, to divide us and to make us miserable.
Instead, socialist proposes a far better model. Instead of zero sum game like streaming, we should promote cooperation in schools.
>>312
ReplyDeleteA lot of great people on earth have little or no formal education, exams or streaming but they did very well in live, society and business. Just google.
The problem of the education in this small island is not to be educated, gain knowledge, develop inner strength, creativity but just to score in exams. This itself is a very disastrous process. The aim is perhaps to ensure the pheasants stay as average as possible so they will be easily manipulated.
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ReplyDeleteit is called school. you wonder, your kid, spend so many hours in school. still got time for tuition? if school can't equip them with the necessary learning and knowledge to face examinations and what not, what for go to school? MOE has to address this first and foremost. are our schools redundant?
ReplyDeleteCONCLUSION from all the above comments:
ReplyDelete--------------------
Looks like we have to change the government before we can change our education system.
It seems PAP has a dysfunctional political ideology that perpetuates a dysfunctional education system.
The problem of the education in this small island is not to be educated, gain knowledge, develop inner strength, creativity but just to score in exams. This itself is a very disastrous process. The aim is perhaps to ensure the pheasants stay as average as possible so they will be easily manipulated.
ReplyDeleteWe need all sorts of people from diverse background. I am not despising non educated. PAP is.
I am advocating non educated people got their fair share of labor, as it is bereaved by PAP FT policy.
What I am advocating also is for those people who are academically incline, we must educate them, and provide them with cognitive jobs.
We need to have cognitive elites among our sons, else we will be duped. The Dalits of India use to be the most clever ancient dravidian. The Brahmins bereave them of education and today they are the most stupid.
If we continue to allow foreign tribe to take cognitive jobs, we will be dalits.
/// If we continue to allow foreign tribe to take cognitive jobs, we will be dalits. ///
ReplyDeleteSingaporeans cannot take action to change this.
"If we continue to allow PAP to form the government, we will be dalits."
Singaporeans can take action in GE 2016 to change this.
The dalits in india are victims of their religion not education. The dalits in small island are victims of their belief that the ruling party founder is god.
ReplyDeleteThe HSC CoWorks is a premium HSC tuition service providing regular face to face tuition, weekend study sessions, HSC Study Bootcamps and Mock Trial Exams to students living in Mosman and Bondi Junction and students living in surrounding areas.
ReplyDelete